


Sanders Family (abandoned)

by artistsfuneral



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coming of Age, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Kid Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Kid Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Kid Sides (Sanders Sides), Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Deceit Sanders, Nonbinary Sleep | Remy Sanders, Single Dad AU, Single Dad Thomas Sanders, Single Parents, Teen Deceit Sanders, Teen Logic | Logan Sanders, Teen Morality | Patton Sanders, Thomas adoptes the Sides, no beta we die like men, past bad parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21521938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artistsfuneral/pseuds/artistsfuneral
Summary: WON'T BE CONTINUED - SORRY!Adoption AU were Thomas ends up adopting six siblings. And tries to be a good Dad.
Comments: 104
Kudos: 325





	1. Siblings

Chapter One – Siblings

* * *

* * *

*******

When Thomas Sanders first thought about adopting a child, he had a kid in mind that was around four or five years old. When he got into the program he quickly left this ideal behind. Instead he started thinking about adopting siblings. An older one, maybe already a teenager – since teenagers weren't adopted that easily – and a younger one that they could take care of together, while taking the paternal role off of the teenagers shoulders.

He had never touched the money that his parents and grandparents had left him as an graduating gift and slowly, over time, it had grown to a little fortune. He was living in a nice house in the suburbans and had two spare rooms, an office and if really needed they could also transform the spacious attic into a bedroom.

And then he had met ten-year old Virgil and his older brother, fifteen-year old Eden. And Thomas was helplessly in love with the two kids.

He had met them at an adoption event, Virgil being to shy to go and play with the other kids had clung himself onto Eden's leg, not leaving his side. And Eden had stayed away from the potential parents, the burned side of his face always turned away from people. When Thomas had noticed them something clicked inside him and he knew that he wanted those two boys to come home with him.

Virgil stayed hidden behind Eden, when Thomas came over with drinks for the three of them and started talking to Eden, not really looking at the boys face, who seemed to get more relaxed over time. And then he had asked them what they favorite animals and colors way – mostly because he didn't know what to say, but also because it seemed like something to ask children. And while Eden had given him a short “yellow-greenish” and “snakes”, Virgil had started talking. About how he loved dark colors and stars and the ocean. And that he loved whales and cats and dogs, but was to afraid to pet a dog. And then he started talking about his older brother Logan, that spend his time teaching him about the universe and ocean creatures.

And then Thomas had asked Eden if they were three brothers.

The older boy had looked him dead in the eye and said: “We're six. And we won't be separated.”

*******

And that was how Thomas Sanders met six children.

The oldest were the twins Logan and Patton. They were seventeen – almost old enough to get out of foster care. Although they looked very similar they were complete opposites of each other. Logan, the older one (by one hour and thirteen minutes) was an intellectual. He studied hard to get into college, so he could take care of his family some day. While he was sharp edges and little emotion, Patton was a goofball. He introduced himself with a dad joke and it was clear that he spend most of his time taking care of his younger siblings. He was good at it too.

Then there was Eden. Thomas was corrected by Patton to use they/them pronouns when talking about the kid and accepted it with a nod and a smile, explaining that some of his friends also used different pronouns. This made Eden smile and Thomas mentally patted himself on the shoulder.

Eden was – probably – a troublemaker. They rolled their eyes at their siblings, lied openly about simple questions (Logan or Patton would correct him) and they were always swearing in every sentence when the other kids weren't around. Still, Thomas could see the potential behind the facade that Eden had build around them. He had been warned in the adoption classes that teenagers often rebelled against everything and everyone. A protective mechanism. Thomas knew the teen would be challenging but he was willing to accept them.

Virgil was ten (and a half). He didn't speak much but it was clear that he was an absolute adorable boy. He was shy and clingy but after two or three meetings he had started to warm up to Thomas and even started smiling and laughing around the man. Thomas' fridge soon carried two pictures of whales that swam in the night sky.

And last but not least there were the youngest boys – also twins – Roman and Remus. They were running around in prince costumes and paper crowns, sword fighting and “horseback riding”. They were definitely creative. Although Roman was more Prince Charming and flowers while Remus was more Cruella De Vil and raccoons. Thomas could see himself on a lot of parent conferences. But the twins got along surprisingly well.

Filling out the papers was an easy decision. Hearing about the kids parents wasn't as easy. With a sad smile a social worker of the agency told Thomas about them.

That the kids mother was bipolar and often had to visit a clinic, to prevent her from committing suicide or lashing out on the children. That the father was a loving man but couldn't keep up with his wife's illness and six children at once. He left them and didn't come back. For a while the children stayed at their mothers house and everything was alright until she started getting worse and abusing the kids. When the teachers had noticed the bruises it had already been to late for Eden.

He had spend a month at the hospital until he could be reunited with his siblings in foster care.

Thomas had cried that evening.

*******

And by all means Thomas Sanders had thought about adopting one or two kids, not six.

And while his friends thought that he was absolutely stupid for even thinking about it, he still opened the door one late afternoon in October, when six children and a social worker were at his house.

Logan, Patton, Eden, Virgil, Roman and Remus came inside. The social worker drove off.

The trial period had started. And renovations would be needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I guess I am doing this. It's not like I have to study for university or something... That would be stupid... Oh well.
> 
> If I made any mistakes in grammar or spelling please tell me, english isn't my mother language and only spelling is corrected in my writing program. Thank you for reading.  
> Have a lovely day! :D


	2. Renovations

Chapter Two – Renovations

* * *

* * *

*******

It had been two days since the six children had moved into Thomas' house. The first day had been pretty awkward, none of them really knowing what to do, but they had come to a somewhat existing routine.

The three older kids – Logan, Patton and Eden – had all gotten single rooms which left the spacious attic for Virgil, Roman and Remus. And while Thomas had already bought them the basic furniture they had decided that they would go shopping, so every one of them could renovate their room as they pleased.

Since Thomas' car could only fit five people at once, Eden and Logan had stayed at home. Eden had claimed that they were “not interested in something this stupid and useless” while Logan wanted to use this as an opportunity to study; also “his room already covered everything essential”.

Thomas of course had asked Logan and Eden if they should bring them something from the store, even if it was just a small piece of decoration or a certain color to repaint the walls of their rooms.

Eden had just rolled their eyes and let out an annoyed groan. Their voice was dripping with sarcasm as they said: “If you really want to use money to get my attention, buy me a damn snake!”

Then they had stormed off into their room, slamming the door shut and scaring Virgil with it.

“I apologize for my sibling's improper behavior,” Logan had said, “I don't need anything. The room you have provided is more than enough. But maybe Patton could choose a small item of decoration for it. He knows what I prefer, so don't worry about it.”

So there he was in a home improvement center* with three kids and a teenager.

He realize quickly that taking Patton with him was the best decision he ever could have made. Virgil was extremely shy that day with too many things happening at once and too many people around, so he clung to Patton's leg like a drowning man to a log. He hadn't said a word after they had entered the store and Thomas was too busy looking out for the twins and therefore not being able to take his time and try to calm the boy down.

Thankfully they had already made plans on how to renovate the kid's room beforehand – Logan's idea. They would divide the longest wall into three parts, so that each one would have a personalized nook to give the boys some privacy if needed. They also would paint the shortest wall next to the dresser combination in chalkboard-paint (Patton's idea to keep Remus from painting on walls that should not be painted on). Then of course everyone was allowed to decorate their space as they wished, which included their beds, desks and their special nooks. So there was a lot to buy.

Patton was looking for something more minimalistic with pastel colors, plants and fairy lights. And he was already holding two stuffed animals (a cat and a dog) in his arms that he had noticed right at the entrance.

He fondly watched over Remus and Roman arguing whether Green or Red was the better color when he felt a slight tug a his jacket. Looking down he saw Virgil holding onto him, but not looking into his eyes. Instead the ten year old pointed to a paint bucket that held a purple-blueish color with glitter particles in it. Thomas smiled at the choice.

“You want that for your new room, Virgil?” The kid nodded enthusiastically and Thomas could see the smile growing on the boys face when he hoisted the paint bucket into their shopping cart.

For the rest of their trip Virgil hold tightly onto Thomas' jacket.

Remus had gone for a bright green color that “reminded him of puke” and some silver ornaments. Roman had gone all out “Disney fairy prince castle”. He had insisted on red paint and a white border line that had yellow crowns painted on it.

All three of the children had wanted fairy lights and glow in the dark stars. Thomas was honestly amazed that there was something they all would agree on.

*******

They spend the rest of their day moving furniture around and painting the walls in the attic, trying to keep Remus from covering himself in paint completely. The end result was a bit wonky but with Patton's and Logan's help they made sure that in the end it was not too chaotic.

The paint probably needed to dry for a day or two so they made do and transformed the living room into a giant blanket fort. Apparently it was so nice that even Patton decided to take his covers and pillows and move onto the couch/temporary bed.

When Tomas announced that renovating of course meant ordering pizza and watching movies in the evening he had gotten loud cheers from everyone (except of course Logan and Eden).

They spend their evening watching Disney movies, laughing, talking and sharing pizza. Remus and Roman fell asleep half way through the first movie and Virgil followed not long after. After all it had been an exhausting day. When Patton wanted to start tidying up the mess they had made, Thomas just shook his head and shooed the teen off to change and go to sleep as well.

He was quietly working in the kitchen, washing up the plates and throwing away the delivery boxes when Logan came in and placed and envelope onto the counter.

“Whats this?”, Thomas asked with a smile while drying his hands on a kitchen towel. “It's my salary from the last two months. I am not really sure if it is enough but of course I will provide more once this month is over.”

Confused Thomas raised his eyebrows. “You salary? Why would you give me your money?”

Logan touched his glasses – more out of habit than the need to correct their position. “Obviously to pay you back for the renovation. Everyone already had a proper room, so it was an unneeded charge. Given the fact that most people don't expect to end up adopting six foster children at once, it probably was an unpleasant financial outcome. Therefor the money.”

Thomas blinked at the teenager, once, twice, before he found the right words.

“That is really considerating of you, Logan, but I do not need your money. You probably worked really hard for it, so you should keep it.” He smiled, hoping it would come over as reassuringly, “I took the next week off to spend more time with you guys, because you're right, suddenly having six kids in my house was not what I first thought of, when I thought about adopting. But I wouldn't have signed the documents if I wouldn't be able to pay for things like these, things to make you hopefully feel welcomed and make you happy. My job pays really well, so don't worry about it.”

Logan moved the envelope with the money closed to Thomas. “I insist. Even if your work pays well you should not be burdened with something like this. It is already enough that you provide for our daily spendings.” The was a silent second between them where Logan looked Thomas dead in the eye. “I have always been able to provide for my family just fine.”

And it clicked inside Thomas' head.

Logan who was the eldest of six children. Logan who probably had grown up babysitting them, taking them to kindergarden and school. Logan who got himself a job as soon as he noticed that they wouldn't have enough money, with only his father being able to work. Logan who spend weeks, maybe months being the only person in his family that would bring money home, because Patton was the one that had to take care of all of their younger siblings full time.

“And you have done an amazing job with that, Logan, I am sure.” Thomas chose his words carefully: “I know, that you are able to provide for them, to protect them. And I would never ask you to stop. But I believe that we can share that task from now on. Let me take care of the things that I am supposed to take care of. With that you can save the money on a bank account. You want to go to a good university, textbooks are not the cheapest thing. Or you can spend your money on little things to make them happy, like taking them to a zoo or buy them a toy they really want. And of course you can buy yourself things that you like.” Thomas laughed quietly. “I bet you have a list of books you would like to read somewhere.”

Logan avoided Thomas' eyes and shrugged his shoulders, seemingly helpless.

“I don't ask you to give away everything that you are right now, I can see that you are like a father to the kids. But maybe it's finally time to give yourself some freedom. I want to take one task from away you and that's worrying about money. You don't have to do that anymore. Like I said my job is payed really, really well. Ridiculously so. I guess that comes with having your own company.”

Logan's shoulders fell down and he took a breath. When he started slightly nodding, Thomas knew that he had done good.

“I guess- I guess I can do that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again: If I made any mistakes in spelling or grammar please correct me to make the text better for the next reader.  
> I hope you liked it, have a lovely day :D
> 
> (home improvement center* = I looked that word up,  
> honestly I have no idea what to call that and I didn't want to use a brand like Home Depot or Ikea,  
> it's called a freaking “Baumarkt” in Germany (literally: build/construction market))


	3. Silence

Chapter three – Silence

* * *

* * *

*******

The weekend had passed quickly, the children keeping Thomas on his feet. He loved every bit of it. But when Monday morning came and one by one the kids took their lunches that Thomas had packed them and left the house.

When the man finally closed the door and took a breath silence welcomed him in his home. It was as irritating as it was liberating. For a long moment Thomas stayed with his back to the door looking over his living room and the kitchen. It wasn’t really a mess but it wasn’t just his place anymore. Roman‘s and Remus’ toys were cluttered on the floor, Virgil‘s math book was on the coffee table next to his latest painting and Eden’s jacket was carelessly thrown in a corner. Logan and Patton were thankfully pretty tidy people, Logan especially.

Thomas took a breather and started making a mental list of what he had to do today. The children would be home pretty late since the younger kids had clubs after their lessons and Patton and Logan would study or hang out with their friends until it was time for them to come back together as a group. Thomas had acknowledged in silence that it probably had been a solution to stay away from their old home for a while longer. He tried not to think about it too much.

Thomas had invited his friends over for dinner to meet the kids, exited to show off his new family. His parents lived in another state, so they wouldn’t be able to meet the kids until Christmas. But Thomas knew his mother well and it wasn’t unlikely that she was spending her time pestering her younger neighbours to explain video chatting to her.

She was a lovely person but could turn into a force of nature when it came to her family.

So today‘s plan would contain a lot of house work. He would need to clean the kitchen, the guest bathroom and the living room. He needed to wash his own clothes and the ones of Virgil, Roman and Remus (Eden probably wouldn’t like the idea of Thomas going through their stuff). He also needed to cook dinner and he had seen a new cake recipe that he wanted to try. Thankfully the kids weren’t allergic to any food ingredients. (Patton was allergic to cats though)

So Thomas started cleaning while his music blasted through the house. And for a while it was just like the time before he was father of six children, but when he picked up toys he had to smile, when he cleaned the kitchen Virgil’s paintings were on the fridge and when he vacuumed the floors he had to remove shoes too small for him.

When he finally finished cleaning he was exhausted but there also was this happy little feeling inside his chest. It hadn’t taken as much time as he thought it would, so he was left with nothing to do for an hour and a half before it was time for him to go grocery Shopping.

It was weird. The house was to quiet and Thomas was shocked by how fast he had gotten used to having the kids around. And while it was nice to have time for himself and play some video games that he couldn’t play with three boys under the age of twelve around, it still felt like he was missing something.

And when he finally went shopping for this week he found his cart full rather quickly and he stopped more than once when he had seen something that the kids could like. Of course he couldn’t get everything – he didn’t want to spoil them to much – but still there was at least one thing for everyone that was not really necessary.

Really proud was he about a book about ball pythons that he had found in the very back of the lexicon section. If the teen wanted a snake, they had to prove to Thomas first that they wanted and knew how to take care of it.

*******

Thomas‘ friends were over before the kids were home. Dr. Emile Picani and his loved one Remy A. Sleep* made themselves at home while Thomas finished making dinner. Emile was a professor and the student psychiatrist at the local university and quite popular around the students. Logan would probably love talking with him. Remy was … well Remy. They had gotten popular on the internet with their educational videos about gendering and other lgbt topics. Over time they had grown pretty famous and hosted around three youtube accounts and two blogs.

Emile and Remy made quite an interesting pair but they worked together really well. Thomas knew them since high school and went through thick and thin with them. He can’t remember how many evenings they had spent together, still closeted and anxiously trying to figure out what exactly was going on with them. Remy had it worse of them all, spending years with dysphoria, not knowing what they wanted to identify as, even if there was something they could identify as. It took them years to figure themself out completely, but now they usually went by they/them pronouns like Eden did, but some days they also identified as male or female. Emile himself was pansexual, Thomas was gay.

Together they kept each other upright.

Around six thirty there was a knock on the front door and Thomas hurried over to open it. As the kids entered the house, one by one (except Eden) greeted Thomas with a smile and he even got hugged by Roman and Remus enthusiastically. Virgil handed him shyly a self-made craft. It was a fall themed landscape that he had made in art class and the trees were crafted with actual leafs. Thomas gave Virgil a bright smile and thanked him for it.

Emile and Remy were exhilarated by the children. Remy instantly started gushing about the younger kids who took a liking in them quickly. Thomas also noticed a silent conversation going on between Eden and Remy, as soon as the teen noticed Remy wearing a skirt. They stared at each other for a few seconds, than Remy tilted his head to the right, Eden gave a short nod and Remy nodded back. It was amazing and probably the most respect he had seen Eden show to anyone.

As he imagined Logan and Emile got along really nicely. As soon as they started talking about university and classes and science, Logan and Emile were in their element. Patton joined in on them sometimes but kept his main focus on the kids, trying to get them to behave.

Remus and Roman were playing with their food (Remus a bit more violently) and Eden was on their phone the whole time, but they didn’t wear headphones and stayed at the table the whole time.

*******

When it was finally time to say Goodbye Thomas was pulled outside by Emile and Remy got hugged a bit too long by both of them. Emile smiled brightly at him: "You know I wasn’t that convinced about your idea to adopt six children. But I can see why you did that now. They are absolutely precious. You did a good job getting them out of the system.“

Thomas smiled at his friends. "Well, they are not completely adopted by me yet, we’re still in the trial period. But I know what you mean, I couldn’t imagine life without them anymore.“

Remy grinned at Thomas like a mad man: "Gurrl, I have met them once and if anything would happen to them I would kill everyone in my way and then myself.“ Thomas snorted at the reference. Then Remy got more serious. "Watch out for Eden, will you? The kid needs lot of love, even though they don’t know that yet.“ Thomas nodded and was hugged again by the two.

"See you later, Alligator!“, Remy waved as the car drove away.

"After a while, Crocodile“, Thomas said silently, completing their traditional Goodbye they did since college.

When he went inside again he was greeted with the sight of his children sprawled out in the living room, the dinner table already cleared out. Roman let out a big yawn and Thomas‘ heart filled with warmth. "Come on kids, time for bed,“ he ushered his children up the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Remy A. Sleep* = See what I did there? A. Sleep…. A sleep…. asleep….. yeah, that’s my humor)  
> I also totally did not write this in my morning lecture instead of listening to the prof :D priorities
> 
> And as always, if you notice any mistakes in spelling or grammar, please tell me so,  
> have a lovely day and thank you for all of your amazing coments :D


	4. Mommy (possible trigger warning)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Possible Trigger Warning:  
> Description of a parent's abusive behavior by their child.  
> You can read the end notes where I summarize this chapter for you, if you do not feel like reading the text but still want to know what happens, except for the trigger part of course. Stay save.

Chapter Four – Mommy

* * *

* * *

*******

Thomas had said the truth when he had told the kids, that he had taken the week off, but he had also said the truth, when he had told Logan, that he was the owner of a company, which let him stay away often until late in the night, voice mailing clients and updating his emails. It was a little troublesome, but therefor he could spend time with the children, so it was worth it.

To night was such a night, where had spend at least three hours on work instead of sleeping. When he finally made it upstairs to go to the bathroom and retire for the night, he could hear a quiet crying coming from the hall closet.

He quietly opened the door as not to scare whoever was inside hiding.

“Virgil? Hey, buddy, are you okay?” Thomas could feel his heart drop ten meters under the ground, when he saw the tiny ten year old covering in the corner.

The boy looked up in fear, but as soon as he registered Thomas he flung himself into the mans arms. His quiet crying turned into a loud, depressing sobbing as he clung onto Thomas shirt.

The brunet carried the crying child back into the living room, where a dimmed light was always switched on, hoping that it would help to calm the kid. He sat Virgil down in his lap and slowly rocked his knees as he whispered comforting nothings into the dark brown fluff of hair on Virgil's head.

It took some time but Virgil finally managed to calm down a bit and he looked at Thomas with fearful, big teary eyes. It was heartbreaking. Thomas used the cuff of his sweatshirt to wipe the tear stains away from Virgil's face and smiled at the child softly. “What's wrong buddy, got a nightmare?” Virgil sniffed and nodded, his lips starting to quiver again. “Oh no, Virgil, please don't cry. What upset you so much, hun?”

Stammering on choked sobs he tried to explain: “I was- I was back in our house, with Mommy and Daddy and they were yelling. But then Daddy- he left, he left me alone in the house and Logan wasn't there and there Patton wasn't also. And Mommy gets bored. And then- then Mommy is running in our hallways and wants to play tag but I don't want to, I don't like playing with Mommy.” Tears started rolling down Virgil's cheeks again and Thomas tried to comfort the kid, rubbing his hand up and down his back.

“But Mommy doesn't listen to me and she is chasing me. And I wake in my room and I can not find Lucy,” Virgil's favorite stuffed animal – a spider, “and then I hear Mommy laughing and she is standing next to my bed and she has Lucy- and she- she made her broken!”

So he ran. Thomas could imagine the rest pretty clearly. The boy ran and probably thought is mother was still chasing him “playing tag” and Virgil hid in the closet, were he was found.

_And oh_ , Thomas wanted to smash something, anything. He wanted to scream at the mother, he wanted to yell at the father, he wanted to go to the social workers and scream at them for not getting the kids out of there sooner.

Instead he hid his nose in Virgil's hair and kept breathing slowly. “It's okay, Virgil, it was just a nightmare. I was in the living room the whole time, I would have noticed if someone came in.”

Virgil looked around, his shoulders pulled up and his hand still clinching onto Thomas' sweatshirt. And then the brunet had an idea, a really, really good idea. “You know what we are going to do?”, he smiled brightly at the kid who shook his head. “We are going to check the house. So I can show you that everything is locked shut, okay?”

He could see the gears in Virgil's head turning. The boy stared at the front door for a long time, then into Thomas eyes and then back at the door. Finally he took a breath and scrunched his eyebrows together. “Okay.”

Thomas beamed at him.

Together they went through each room (except the bedrooms were the others were sleeping in), checking the doors that lead outside – Virgil was pulling the handle on each one – and then the windows. All were shut and the shutters were let down. With each room the fear left the child's stance a bit more, until they were finally in Thomas bedroom, where he let out a loud yawn.

_Still absolutely adorable,_ Thomas thought.

“Ready for bed?” Virgil tensed again, looking between Thomas and the bedroom door.

“You can sleep here if you want to?” The man hold his breath. The kids had been here for six days now and Thomas honestly didn't know if he was crossing a border. Especially because it had taken shy Virgil quite a long time until he had warmed up to Thomas in the beginning.

The unbelievable thing happened instead. Without any hesitation Virgil nodded and started to climb into Thomas bed.

Trying not to let his enthusiasm show to much, he spend a second rummaging through one of his drawers where he pulled out a small nightlight, that he usually used on vacations. He plugged it in and joined Virgil in the bed. It took neither really long to fall asleep, both were exhausted.

*******

A knock on his door awoke the man in the morning.

“Thomas, sorry to wake you, but have you seen Virg? He is not in his bed and it's time for- _Oh_.”

Patton had opened the door when Thomas tried to sit up straight (ha!), groggy from lack of sleep. Next to him something moved and a even groggier Virgil crawled out of bed, yawing loud and rubbing his eyes. “Morning Patton, Morning Papa.”

Thomas fell back into the covers, to tired from his all nighter, to realize what had just happened, while Patton closed the door behind him with a huge grin on his face.

Later that day you could hear the confused sounds of a now-father, realizing that he had been called Papa for the first time and completely missed out on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary: Thomas is working for his company late at night when he hears Virgil crying. Virgil had a nightmare about his (abusive) mother and Thomas calms him down. Together they go check if every window and every door that leads outside is locked to make Virgil (and Thomas) feel save. Then Virgil gets to stay in Thomas' bed for the night and he calls Thomas Papa for the first time. :D
> 
> Yes, there are some grammar mistakes when Virgil is speaking when he is upset. That was intentionally. :D  
> Still, you know the drill, if I made any mistakes elsewhere please tell me, my Mama can't speak English, so it's still not my mother language (not sorry about that joke)  
> Have a lovely day.


	5. Smoking

Chapter Five – Smoking

* * *

* * *

*******

Bloody hell, it’s too cold for this shit!“ Cursing loudly Eden tried lighting their cigarette for the third time, their finger shaking from the cold temperatures. Their friends laughed at them, already smoking.

The group of teenagers were hiding between the dumpsters behind the school gym, probably skipping a class – Eden honestly didn’t know and didn’t care. They finally were able to light the cigarette and took a long drag, digging the lighter and their free hand back into their jacket. Smoking had become a habit years ago, when Eden was first introduced to his now-friends. They didn’t do it, because they thought it was cool – like most adults probably were thinking – Eden did it, because it actually helped. It took their mind off of things that stressed them, it gave them the freedom to rebel against the school, to rebel against adults. Who even cared about cancer anymore?

“Hey, shitface, give me some smokes.” Demanding, one of the boys reached out his hand.

Eden spit in it. “Bugger off, loser!”

“Damn, what got in your ugly face, this morning?”

“Are you deaf? I said: Piss off!” Eden snarled at the other teen, underlining every word.

Normally Eden would share some of their smokes, but this was their last package, bought with the rest of the money they stole from their mother’s purse. And while they maybe were not the nicest kid, they still didn’t steal. Not from stores and absolutely not from Logan or Patton.

“What’s your problem, shitface? Mommy doesn’t love you anymore? No wonder with your ugly visage.” Laughter ringed in his ears as Eden dropped their cigarette, blowing out the last bit of smoke. “You know what? You never learned, when to stop.”

*******

The cocky grin didn’t slip from Eden’s lips until the door of the headmaster’s office opened.

With a handkerchief they tried to stop their bloody nose from ruining the shirt they wore, they ankle hurt like hell but wasn’t broken. Eden’s shirt was probably ripped from where the other teen had thrown them across the yard.

Until the door opened, Eden had thought that it would be Logan – more likely Patton to come and pick them up. They always did in the past. Neither of the brothers ever said something, when Eden acted out: Logan didn’t know what to do and Patton was still walking on eggshells round them.

But they hadn’t thought of this. They hadn’t thought of the possibility that it would be Thomas. That it would be Thomas who had gotten the call from the principle and that it would be Thomas who would have to leave work, drive to their school and come and pick them up.

The man and the teen locked eyes for a moment, Thomas’ face not readable. Eden hated it, they hated that they couldn’t assess the man’s reaction.

The adult thanked the principle for the call, promised that he would talk to Eden and apologized about the kid’s behaviour. Then he spoke not a single word.

In silence they left the school, got into the car and drove away.

“Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“No.”

Silence. All. The. Way. Back to the house.

The car stopped in front of the garage, no one left it. Thomas still stared in front of him. The silence turned maddening and Eden got nervous, started to shift in their seat.

“What happened?”

“Huh?”

“What happened? Why did you got into a fight?”

“I don’t know? Why is that important?”

“Because I want to hear it from you, not your headmaster.” Well, that was new. Eden had never been told that before. Perplex they looked at Thomas, who turned his head and looked Eden in the eyes.

“We were smoking,” Thomas made a face, “and one of the others got into my face. Literally. So I punched him, he punched me and it got out of hand.”

“Got in your face?” Eden cringed. They had hoped Thomas wouldn’t go further once they had admitted the truth.

“Made fun of me. Called me shitface, nothing special, but he cursed me to be a Momma’s boy. I’m not.”

Thomas took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay? That’s it? You’re not… going to punish me or something?”

“I don’t think it would change anything.”

“Change anything? Like I am some stupid charity case of a kid that can’t be helped? Fuck you! I don’t need to be changed! I already know that I am worthless, so there is no use in changing me. Just because my face looks like shit, it doesn’t mean-“

Thomas raised his hand to stop Eden from talking, the kid flinched back, waiting for a hit.

“Don’t curse, Eden. And don’t speak so badly about yourself. You are not a charity case, but I don’t believe that I have earned your respect yet, that’s why I don’t ‘punish’ you, as you call it. If you want to be grounded, then you are, but I don’t believe you will follow my rules.”

Eden looked away, the man was absolutely crazy.

“And the burn mark on your face is nothing that would make me think less of you. You may not like it, but you forget, that I have never seen you without it. And you also seem to forget, that it was you and Virgil that I wanted to adopt first. Not only Virgil, you and Virgil. I always try to include you in everything I do with your siblings, but it is you that never wants to. I accept that, I accept a lot of the stupid and absolutely reckless things you do, but you are not allowed to believe you are worth less than any of the others.”

Eden tried to hide their tears, to no use. They muttered a quiet “Fuck you” and used their sleeve to wipe their face.

“No cursing,” Thomas reminded them.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“Don’t think this makes you special!”

“I know,” Thomas smiled, “I have to go back to work and we have some cooling packs in the freezer. If anything changes and you need to see a doctor, call me, the number is hanging next to the phone in the kitchen.”

Eden nodded and left the car.

Thomas rolled down the window and spoke one last time, before Eden entered the house. “And Eden? Please, no more smoking. It would break your sibling’s hearts if they would lose you. You are very important to them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, Eden's and Thomas' relationship gets better. We're not there yet completely, but it's better.  
> I hope you liked it, thank you very much for reading and like always: If I made any mistakes in grammar or spelling don't hesitate to tell me.
> 
> Have a lovely day, Bye :D


	6. Chapter Six - Lies

Chapter Six – Lies

* * *

* * *

*******

“And you are sure that I can go? That you two can handle the kiddos for today?“ Unsure whether or not it was the case, Patton looked between Thomas and Logan. They both changed a glance at each other and then nodded.

“Affirmative. I will help Virgil with his homework and watch out for Eden and Thomas will take the twins to the local zoo. Also, we both have your phone number.”

“Patton, don't worry. You go and have a fun day with your friends, you deserve some time for yourself. Logan and I will manage just fine.”

Patton swallowed back bile, that came naturally these days, whenever he was feeling like he was not needed and put on a smile. He had to remember the ulterior motive, the priority.

“And I shall not drive you to your friends house?” Patton's smile was honest this time. In some way Thomas was just so similar to him. It was as if they had known each other for years, as if they were fam-

“No. My friends house is just across a bus station, it is not far from here. Thank you for asking.”

Patton hugged Roman and Remus goodbye and ruffled through Virgil's hair. He stopped at Eden who looked their older brother dead in the eye and scrunched their eyebrows together. Eden had always been to smart for their own good.

After Patton ha left the house, Eden turned to Logan.

Pinching their nose they said dryly: “That boy is gonna do something stupid.”

*******

The teen was slightly bouncing with the tips of his feet as he was staring at the door bell. All the way to the house he had been biting on his lower lip that now felt raw. He was fidgety and agitated. Then he rang the bell.

Breathe. Count. One, Two, Three. Blink. _People have to blink every three seconds naturally,_ he heard Logan's voice in his head.

Breathe. Count. One, Two, Three, Four, Five- The Door Opens. He Is Pulled Into A Hug.

“Patton! My baby, I am so glad you finally came! You haven't visited me in weeks, I was so worried! Come in, come in! How was school? Did you learn something new today?”

Breathe. It is fine. Today is a good day.

The boy smiles as he is pulled inside the familiar living room. “Have you eaten in school already? I just thought about making lunch.” Laughter bounces back off the walls, fills the empty room. “I still can't cook very good, you were always better at it than me. But I can't have my baby cook, can I?”

Patton was lead to the dining table, he allowed himself to be manhandled onto a chair and kept the smile on his face the whole time. “Don't worry Mom, I am not very hungry.”

His mother froze and looked at him, she didn't blink for five seconds, then she smiles again. “Oh, yadda, yadda, yadda. Of course you are hungry. You are just too polite, I have raised you too good. But remember, baby, lying is not nice.” She held up her finger scolding, then started giggling and entered the kitchen.

Patton swallowed thickly. He hadn't entered the kitchen since that day. He still could smell it. Could hear it.

He sat in complete silence alone at the dining table while his mother worked in the kitchen. His left leg was bouncing uncontrollably and he wished he hadn't forgotten to bring one of his touch stim-toys*. Instead he had to play with one of the rubber friendship bracelets on his arm, but it was not as comforting as he wished it to be.

It probably had been twenty or thirty minutes until a plate was set in front of him. A plate of dinosaur chicken nuggets and spaghetti bologna stared at him. Patton was vegetarian. He had been for the past five years. She never remembered.

His mother sat on the opposite side of the table and dug in. She started gesturing around wildly while she told Patton about a show she had seen on TV, what the neighbors had done with their garden and then she proudly told Patton about his father's work, that the man was on a business trip and would get a raise soon. The teenager listened in silence.

His leg was bouncing and he was fidgeting with the rubber band. His food had gone cold.

His mother started talking about Logan and Patton, how proud she was that they started high school with such good grades. Patton wanted to scream. She told him about how cute Virgil looked in his kindergarden uniform and when she asked where her other three sons were, Patton told her that they were staying with friends.

She clapped her hands excitedly: “Oh I can't wait to tell Virgil and David* about the new baby!”

The teen cringed, then smiled again. “It would be funny if the baby was actually twins, wouldn't it? Like Logan and me?”

“Wrong!”, she shouted loudly and hit her fist at the table. Patton flinched.

“I only have one baby! I don't want two!”

“Yeah, but maybe-”

“NO!” She grabbed the table and started shaking it violently, the vase fell to the floor and shattered. “I don't want two babies! Why would you say something like that? Do you think I am lying?”

Patton jumped away from the table when his mother threw herself over it to grab Patton. “Do you think I am lying?” She repeated furiously. “No! No Mom, I believe you, I do!”

She came running for him, he darted away. A glass smashed right next to his head on the wall.

_He was six again. Daddy wasn't home. And Mommy had gotten angry because he had lied about something. Logan was already locked up in the basement. Mommy was still chasing him._

Patton was sprinting to the front door, reaching for his shoes on the floor and darting out.

He ran all the way back to Thomas' house.

*******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> touch stim-toys* = things have to have a certain texture, so I can fiddle with them when I am anxious, I am still searching for the best thing I can take with me
> 
> David* = a certain Dead Name of a certain snake lover, I don't like the name in German pronunciation very much, and the English one makes me think of David Madson.....
> 
> ***
> 
> So yeah. This is super short and anxious. You may notice that I am not feeling very happy at the moment, so the next few chapters probably will be filled with anxiety :D  
> I come from a very loving family, so don't worry about that bit. This chapter is just bad fiction because I feel like shit.  
> As always, please tell me about mistakes that I may have made and thank you very much for reading.  
> I hope your last week was better than mine, have a lovely day. Bye.


	7. Family

Chapter Seven – Family

* * *

* * *

*******

Once Patton had opened the door he stormed through the living room and up the stairs. Logan and Eden were sitting on the couch and stared after him. Eden squinted their eyes: “Like I said; Trouble.”

Patton sprinted into his room and closed the door behind him, he would have locked it, but Thomas had not given the kids any keys to their rooms. Instead he remained with his back to the door, sliding down the wood. He was breathing hard, choking for air that didn’t make it into his lungs out of exhaustion and fear. He knew that he was having a panic attack – it wasn’t his first one – and he knew that he should ask Logan for help, because Logan always knew how to help him calm. But Logan would be angry. Eden would notice and they would knew instantly were he had been.

There was a knock on his door and Patton clapped his hands over his mouth to silence his sobs.

“Patton? Patton Can we come in?” It was Logan. Of course it was Logan.

“Patton, come on. Let us in, you are scaring Virgil.” Virgil. _Oh God, Virgil was home_ , the boy must have heard him storm up the stairs. He was probably frightened. Virgil hated it, when someone in his family was upset.

Patton robbed away from the door and knocked on the ground, a sign that Logan was allowed to open the door. He did so, slowly. Within seconds there was a dark blur running towards him and Patton was hugged tightly by Virgil. The teen put his arms around the smaller boy and hid his face in Virgil’s jacket. His glasses fell to the floor and Logan picked them up, cleaned them with his shirt and lay them on his bedside table.

There was a shuffling sound as Eden and Logan sat next to them on the floor. On his right, Logan’s shoulder bumped into his own and on his left he could feel Eden fiddling with the cuffs of Patton’s jeans.

“You were back there, weren’t you?” Eden’s voice was quiet but firm. Patton knew the teen disapproved of him visiting their mother constantly. They had the right to do so. Not trusting his voice, Patton simply nodded. Eden’s harsh breath cut through the air. Patton knew that Logan was now giving the teen a look. “Sorry,” he whispered into Virgil’s shoulder.

“I just- I just don’t understand why! Why do you keep going back to that woman?”

“Eden! Leave it!”

“No! I won’t leave it alone. You always say that and things never change! He always goes back to her and he always comes back hurt!” Eden had raised his voice.

“Don’t you dare yell at Patton. Do you have any idea how ungrateful you are?”

“I am ungrateful? I am just trying to protect him from that woman!” Eden was actually yelling now.

Patton could feel Virgil flinch in his embrace and he knew he had to stop this until it got out of hand. Logan and Eden fighting always ended badly and right now that was not something he wished to happen. Not when it would mean that he would have to call Thomas and tell him that Eden was gone, that they had left after a fight (like they usually did) and that Logan had locked himself in his room (the older one would find a way to do so).

“Stop fighting, you guys.” His voice was still small but it did stop Logan and Eden. At least they were still listening to him. That was a good sign. “I AM NOT A GUY!” Eden’s scream made everyone flinch. Patton finally looked up from Virgil’s jacket, fear in his eyes. Out of reflex he took hold of the teen’s arm. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Eden. I know, I made a mistake, I’m sorry, please don’t go!”

A moment of silence passed. Then Eden took a deep breath and slumped together. “See? That’s always happening, when we talk about her. She makes us fight all the time, even months after we got taken away from her, we still argue.” Eden looked away. “I don’t want to fight anymore.”

Patton’s face fell, as he saw the tears in Eden’s eyes. The teen hadn’t cried in years. Not even in the hospital, Patton had seen Eden shed a single drop. Seeing, how much this affected him, how much they still meant to Eden as a family, was overwhelming.

“I- I’m sorry. I truly am. But- but she is not some crazy woman. She is our mother. I know- I know it’s not fair to you”, Patton reached out and gently caressed the left sight of Eden’s face. The teen still wouldn’t meet their older brothers eyes, but he didn’t pull away either.

Patton tried to explain: “She is Mom. You are only a few years younger than Logan and I, but you also spend most of your time with Dad, unlike us. You were his favourite, we were Mom’s. It worked out for a long time, she was doing well. But she stopped taking her Mediation, she stopped listening to Dad. On her good days she was wonderful, when you were with Dad she spend hours playing with us. I want to keep remembering the good times with her. I’m- I’m afraid, that when I only focus on her bad days, I will stop loving her. And that wouldn’t be fair. She is Mom, she raised us for years with all the love she had.”

“I can’t do that. I can’t see her being a loving mother. Not when she hurt us so much.” Patton took another deep breath: “I know.”

Again there was silence between the siblings, no one really knew what to say. No one moved, as if it would break some kind of spell, a spell of peace that would vanish as soon as someone moved.

“Patton?” Virgil tucked at Patton’s shirt.

“Yes, kiddo?”

“Can you not go to Mom anymore? I don’t like you crying. And I don’t like Logan crying either.”

Patton’s head whipped around to where his older brother was still sitting on the floor. Ashamed, Logan looked away quickly. Patton suddenly realized how selfish he had been. He probably had made everyone uncomfortable with him visiting their mother again and again. He hadn’t noticed just how much pain he put his family through. While it seemed normal that Eden was talking bad about their mother, Patton hadn’t been thinking about how their constant arguments would affect Virgil, who was terrified of violence and the thought of his family being split apart. And he had also not thought about Logan. With Logan always working or studying, he kind of had forgotten that their mother’s changing behaviour could also hurt Logan.

“That was really selfish of me, wasn’t it?” Patton went back to hugging his knees, the icky feeling in his stomach, which had pestered him all day, slowly grew into a hard knot of distress. He was crying again, mumbling apologies to his siblings.

Soon he was hugged from all sides. Virgil was again hugging him chest to chest, practically crawling into the older boy’s lap, so that Patton could hide his face back in the purple jacket. Eden clambered onto Patton’s left side, their face leaning on their brother’s shoulder, fingers intertwined. Even Logan, who was usually not a touchy person, joined the group hug. One hand around Patton’s back, touching Eden’s shoulder, the other arm around Virgil. He was keeping them close together and protected.

A quiet promise left Patton’s lips: “I’m sorry, I won’t go back anymore. Not when my whole family is here.”

“Patton?"

“Yes, Virge?”

“Can Thomas be part of our family? I think he really likes it, when I call him Papa.”

Patton smiled into the soft fabric. “Of course. Pops is already part of it.”

Virgil giggled.

*******

Around dinner time, the front door opened and an exhausted Thomas entered the house with two sleepy boys clung to his sides. Remus walked over to the couches in the living room and let himself fall into Eden’s lap, while Roman made grabby hands at Patton, who picked the boy up with a smile.

“Heyo kiddo, you had a fun time?” Patton asked quietly against Romans brown curls. The affirmative but very sleepy mumble made the teen smile. Unconsciously he started rocking the child in his arms.

Then he looked at Thomas, who was smiling fondly at them. “Virgil already in bed?” He asked.

Logan glanced up from his book: “We had a rather eventful afternoon.” Thomas simply nodded a few times, he trusted the kids. “Everything alright?”

Patton and Eden locked eyes for a moment, before Patton smiled. “I think we managed it just fine. A little argument, but we settled it.”

“You kids are great, you know that?”

He took Remus from Eden’s lap and Roman from Patton tucked them both under his arms. “So… I will get these gremlins into bed and then I will make dinner. Any special wishes?”

“Actually,” Logan spoke up, “We have thought you would be exhausted, so I already made dinner earlier, I hope you don’t mind.”

“That sounds perfect, thank you very much Logan.”

“No problem.”

Thomas carried the two boys upstairs. Their day at the zoo had been surprisingly normal. Thomas had already noticed that Remus was a bit of an odd noodle, so he had kind of imagined something terrible would happen, but except from Remus trying to climb into a few habitats and the great ice cream disaster of 2019(TM) everything went just fine.

There even were six new stuffed animals in the back seat of his car, waiting for each of the kids. Thomas smiled, as he helped a sleepy Roman brush his teeth, _his kids_. He stopped Remus from gulping down the toothpaste and pulled out the boys pyjamas. Once they were redressed he quietly carried them into their room, trying not to disturb a sleeping Virgil and bit them goodnight.

He spend the rest of the evening, mindlessly chatting with the three kids left in the living room and eating the dinner Logan had made (turned out not only Patton was a very good cook). Once it was finally time to retire, Thomas went to bed immediately, not knowing that the next they he would have Patton waking him by calling him Pops and three children running around his house, that called him Papa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still in misery butheyy, hereis a longer chapter, so good for you guys. Only one and a half week of Terror left for me :D
> 
> I think next I will write about Roman and Remus idk, if you have any ideas or Special wishes, please tell me so I would like to bring them into the Story.  
> And like always: I am a parsel tongue so I don't speak english at home; If I made any mistakes in grammar or spelling, please tell me so.
> 
> Have a lovely day, Bye :D


	8. Remus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are bored, text me on my tumblr? Also called artistsfuneral.

Chapter Eight – Remus

* * *

* * *

*******

In the morning Thomas had already figured out that today was one of Remus’ more… creative days. Apparently the boy hadn’t slept well, nor did he sleep very long – he had been the first one awake and was on his fifth picture when Thomas entered the living room at five in the morning. And the pictures…

Well they were made by Remus so Thomas had expected them to be weird, but today they had been a little to extravagant even for Thomas. Remus had drawn “the Lady that was swinging on a rope down the street” and “how the old man who didn’t like children got eaten by monsters”. All pictures were rather descriptive.

Thomas had been talking to Emile about Remus… interesting take on creativity. Honestly he didn’t know what else to call it. Emile, ever the good person, had promised Thomas that it was nothing to really worry about. From what he heard, Emile told the father, it was Remus’ way of coping. The boy probably had seen and experienced a lot of things, he shouldn’t have at his age. So after “seeing the truth” he had developed a different way of seeing the world and expressing it. As long as Thomas watched out for the boy not to really harm anyone or himself, it would be okay.

So Thomas had picked up the boy and made breakfast like every morning, just this time with Remus sitting on the counter. But it hadn’t stopped there. At the breakfast table, Remus had claimed that he wasn’t hungry and had started throwing his food at Roman and Virgil, once he got bored. In the end, Remus and Roman had started to fight, throwing not only food but also curses at each other. Thomas wasn’t able to separate them and Patton had to come and help. It was frustrating.

When it was time for the children to leave for school Remus had thrown a tantrum. Patton had to pick up and carry Remus, so they wouldn’t miss the bus. Thomas had to watch helplessly, not knowing what to do.

Apparently today was a bad day in general. Not only that Remus had been upset all morning long and Eden had been extra feisty during breakfast, back at the office Thomas found Remy dressed in one of Emile’s hoodies and with their hair uncombed. It was a clear sign of them being very uncomfortable, but when Thomas asked they just shrugged and went back to sipping on their coffee.

The company’s clients also forgot their manners which stressed both Thomas and Remy to no end. And once Thomas’ secretary started to cry because of one of the customers it all went downhill pretty fast. Thomas had to send the poor woman home after she had a mental breakdown, which left Thomas and Remy alone in the head office. Around noon Thomas had noticed that Remy was getting worse, but the phone started ringing and he had to pick it up.

Remy pretended to type something on their computer while they listened to Thomas conversation.

“Thomas Sanders speaking, how can I help you?”

“Yes, I am the Sides legal guardian at the moment.”

“Excuse me, can you repeat that?” His brows scrunched together and he locked eyes with Remy.

“Where even did he find a dead bird? Shouldn’t the school grounds be checked before the kids enter it?” The voice on the other side of the line got louder in anger.

“Yes, of course. Yes, I understand, I will be over in,” his eyes darted from Remy to the clock on the wall, “around thirty minutes.”

He hung up and took a long breath, before he looked back at Remy. “I have to pick Remus up from school. He is expelled for a few days. Apparently he misbehaved, got into a fight with a girl and Roman, which ended with him sneaking a dead bird into the girl’s backpack.”

Remy stared at him for a second, before asking: “That is normal for him?”

“Well no, he usually doesn’t fight with his brother.”

Remy blinked at him a few times. Thomas totally unaware about how used he had gotten to Remus weirdness. Instead he texted Patton about the situation, so that the teen didn’t need to worry about picking him up and then went to grab his jacket and keys and looked at Remy apologetic. “I will go and pick him up. You think you can manage until I am back with him?”

Remy gave him a thumbs up and a crooked smile.

*******

When Thomas had first all of the siblings at once, a month ago, he already had imagined himself visiting the headmaster’s offices a lot. The kids were a wild bunch of different characters and each came with their own package to carry. While Eden seemed to behave at school for the time being, Thomas new it was just a matter of time until he got the next call.

Remus was sitting in front of the office, gazing at the ceiling while is feet dangled in the air in an unknown rhythm. Once he noticed Thomas entering the building he jumped from his chair and ran towards the man with a big grin on his face. He greeted him with a loud “Papa!” and was instantly shushed by the principles secretary. He poked out his tongue at her which earned him a shocked noise and a glaring look at Thomas. “Hey now, that wasn’t very nice, was it?”

Remus looked at the adult and shook his head: “No, but the lady was mean to me, so it’s okay. She broke my backpack when she pulled me in here.”

Thomas raised at an eyebrow at the lady who quickly looked away, pretending to have something better to do. “Come on, we will go talk to your principle and then we will go to where I work.” Thomas took Remus by the hand and led him into the office after knocking on the door.

“Ah, Mr. Sanders, welcome.” The principle was an elderly lady with grey hair and glasses sitting on her nose. Thomas shook hand with her and se on one of the two chairs in front of her desk, Remus claimed the other one. “So, what exactly happened that I am here?”

The woman took a long glance at Remus and then concentrated on Thomas. “Mr. Sanders,” she begun, “the boy will be expelled from school for three days and will have this noted in his school record.” She took out a paper from a pile and read out loud: “Misbehaving in class, problem with authority, ignoring simple tasks and bullying other students, also seems to be obsessed with dead animals, therapeutic sessions needed.” She put the file away. “As you can see, Mr. Sanders, this boy clearly shows psychopathic behaviourally issues. If his mind will not be fixed now, I believe he will not find a place at this school next year. Sadly.”

Thomas took in a long breath, reminding him not to scream. He turned to Remus, who was drawing on his arms with what looked like permanent marker. “Remus, darling, can you tell me what happened today?” The second grader looked at the adult, the pen in his hand forgotten.

“I was in Arts and Crafts and Ms. Madeline went outside to get more coloured paper and Karen said my bloody squirrel I have made was stupid so she ripped it apart. But nobody saw because we are sitting in the last row. And she made fun of me and I wanted to give the squirrel to you and she broke it so I was angry and I broke her stupid horse also. And she started to scream and cry at me and everyone turned around and no one believed me that she ripped mine first. And Roman wanted to help me but his friends were angry with him so he stopped. And everyone told Ms. Madeline that it was my fault but it really is Karen’s fault.”

He showed Thomas the broken craft of a paper squirrel, or rather a road kill squirrel, as he talked. It was torn into three pieces and glued together in a sad attempt to save it. “And in the big break Karen was poking a bird with a stick and the bird didn’t like that and I told her to stop and she pushed me. And I fell onto Roman who was playing hide and seek with his friends and his paper crown he made got squished and he got really angry and I don’t want Roman to be angry at me. And Roman pushed me also and then Karen laughed at me and she poked the bird again but she did not want to listen when I told her again to stop. So the bird told me to scare her and I put the bird into her backpack, because if she liked to poke it so much then she should take it home with her. But nothing was my fault!”

Thomas stroked through the brown curls that were Remus’ hair and smiled at the child: “Thank you for telling me, you can go and wait outside now. I will be there in a second. We will make Roman a new crown so he won’t be angry with you anymore, okay?”

Remus, obviously glad that Thomas believed him, nodded and gave a quiet “okay” before he left the room.

Thomas turned back to the principle. “Now, I understand that him putting a dead bird into that girl’s backpack was not the right thing to do, but I will expect your change of his file. Remus is neither tending towards showing psychopathic tendencies, nor was he ever bullying another student. I would rather state that it was him being bullied for being different and surely you as the principle will not let this slight, seeing that only a small success in bullying one kid could lead to the girl picking on others as well.”

“Excuse me? Mr. Sanders I hope you don’t believe what that boy just told you.”

Thomas gave the woman a deadly smile. “In fact, I believe every single word that leaves his mouth. Back with his birth mother, Remus would be beaten half to death if he lied to her. So yes, I believe my child does not tell lies, because he is way too afraid from his traumatic experiences to do so.”

The principle gulped.

“I am sure, that you are aware of the fate of the Side family. Clearly the social workers must have talked to you after they got enrolled in the system.” Thomas stood up in a swift movement. “I do believe three days off school will be enough time for Remus to recover and for you to talk with Karen’s parents about the dangers of bullying children.” He held out his hand and the principle shook it in a hurry. Thomas whole stance was now screaming experienced CEO as he gave the woman his business smile.

“Have a good day.”

Stammering the principle said her goodbyes as well.

Thomas smiled at Remus when he got outside. He took the child by the hand again and they left the school together.

*******

“So, why the dead animals, kid?” Remy was sitting next to the boy on the couch. Both were holding a paper cup in their hands, Remy was having coffee and Remus a hot chocolate.

Remus grinned at the adult. “When I touch them, I can feel what it was like to be dead again.”

Remy choked. “What?”

“I touch them and then I can remember. I forget how feeling dead was after living for too long.” Thomas had turned away from the computer and looked at the boy. “What do you mean, do you remember being dead?”

Remus blinked at Thomas. “Yes Papa. I have died already, a lot. But I always come back, we all come back.” It was quiet for a moment, Remus happily sipping on his cup. “So…”, Remy spoke aloud what Thomas was thinking, “what is it like? Being dead?”

The boy made a face while thinking about how to describe it. “It is quiet, for a long time and warm and nice. And then you are somewhere with a really bright light and everyone is trying to get to the light and they are pushing and pulling. Those who have been good are given wings so that they can fly to the light. And the others have to run and pull and push. And when you reach the light you are back here on earth.”

Silence fell back over the room, Thomas coughed and went back to typing on the computer, while Remy took a big gulp from their coffee. Unlike Remy, Thomas was raised in a religious family. He did believe in god, he went to church, he prayed and he believed in life after death. Hearing Remus talk about this, completely confident about what he was saying, it touched something inside of him.

Thomas knew that the twins were the walking embodiment of creativity. And he knew that Remus especially was bound to ideas that had to do with death, but this… This had sound far too confident, fa too real. It wasn’t something a child could just imagine.

Remus sensed the shift in mood and looked at Thomas: Am I in trouble, Papa? I promise I am not lying.”

Thomas looked up immediately and smiled warmly at the boy. “No you are not. I believe you, thank you for telling us.”

Remus smiled and went back to his hot chocolate. The adults shared one last glance before Thomas went back to work, Remy hiding further in Emile’s hoodie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BAMF Thomas Sanders! You go boy!  
> This is the longest chapter so far, I couldn’t help myself and I guess you don’t mind :D  
> Also Remus being one of these spooky kids is my new headcanon, but please tell me if it’s too much. My research for this was listening/reading a bunch of posts on the internet about “weird/scary things your child has said/done”. Kids are creepy. The next chapter will concentrate on Remy so don’t worry I didn’t forget them. Also I am not religious, like not at all, but Thomas said he is, so there goes that. 
> 
> But I want to believe that a soul can be “reborn” and that there are people, that are just so comfortable in life because they have done all of this many times before and people like me, who are overly anxious about “normal” things are just souls that are fairly new to this world.
> 
> If you have noticed any mistakes, please tell me, English is still not my mother language. And yes, when Remus is talking there probably are some mistakes, but this is due to him being a child.
> 
> Sorry for the Long endnotes, have a lovely day :D


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note:

You probably all guessed it, but I abandoned this story a long time ago. I'm sorry. You all were really lovely in the comments, but I fell out of love with this story. If anyone would like to write a similar thing, please go ahead!


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